Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
These days years, I may be into Asian-centered things, but before I got into Asian entertainment, I actually had a phase where I was obsessed with anything European (or foreign in the 'Western world'). This was also roughly around the time that I was engrossed with anything Harry Potter (and I made pumpkin pasties and considered getting the ingredients to make this so-called treacle tart) and Lord of the Rings (though not all of the actors were European, but that's not the point - they had a non-American accent) that I even acquired a slight European accent and had been questioned on several occasions by fellow Americans. Obviously, I've lost this temporary accent of mine, but thinking about it still tickles me. I even burned a CD with Romanian and French bands along with other songs in Welsh and German. It was awesome!
Anyway, I've also always wanted to try making a dish called Shepherd's Pie. However, I encountered a small obstacle: it's traditionally a meat pie. Honestly, the only reason why it's an obstacle is because I like eating the authentic stuff, as it's easy to make things vegetarian even with the protein (thank goodness for technology and soy). So, I looked up some recipes and scrounged through my fridge. Then my mom told me that I was in charge of tonight's dinner.
Perfect!
Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie, aka The Shepherdless Pie
(inspired and roughly based on these two recipes: ONE (from BBC) and TWO (found from Foodgawker))
Serves roughly 4 to 6, depends on if it's an entree or side dish
INGREDIENTS
- 8 small-ish carrots, peeled and diced
- 4 roma tomatoes, diced
- 8 to 10 large button mushrooms, diced
- 2 to 3 Asian eggplants, diced
- 1 to 1 1/2 cup of ground meat substitute (we used a Taiwanese brand, but here's an example)
- 3 to 4 medium-sized golden potatoes; washed, peeled and cut into Okinawan potato-sized chunks
- 10 small, Okinawa purple potatoes, washed and peeled
- 1 tsp each of dried thyme, oregano, and basil
- 1/2 tsp of ground paprika
- Scant 1/4 tsp of mushroom extract (aka natural MSG/stock)
- 2 to 3 TBSP of tomato paste
- 1 cup of water
- 2 TBSP of butter
- 1 to 2 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
THE HOW-TO
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a pot, add water and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste and the potatoes and cook until tender (perhaps around 15 minutes, depending on the size of your chunks). Drain and return to the hot pot. Mash with the butter until mashed potatoes is at desired texture (chunky versus smooth) and season with some salt and pepper. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a pan, heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil over medium heat and add the eggplant, carrot, thyme, oregano, basil, and paprika. Saute until cooked but the carrots still have bite to them (and the eggplant lightly golden) - around 8 minutes or so. Add the mushrooms and mushroom extract and saute for a couple more minutes until tender. Now, add the water, tomatoes, tomato paste, ground "meat", and additional seasonings if desired (i.e. the salt and pepper). Mix and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and the contents are hot and cooked.
Spoon the tomato-vegetable-fungus mix into an oven-safe pan/dish and spread the mashed potatoes on top, covering the vegetables. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until hot through and tops are golden. Serve.
NOTES/COMMENTS
- Obviously, I'm trying to help my mom empty out her fridge, hence the eggplant that made a surprise (but not really) appearance as well as the purple potatoes. Honestly, after browsing through recipes, I realised that you could put whatever in there vegetable-wise like squash, a variety of beans, and even lentils. Perhaps I'll make this again the next time I need to clear out the fridge, though I hope my mom would have different veggies for me. ^^ However, I sort of wish we had one or two more potatoes (there were some bits of the vegetable filling that was uncovered..
- It wasn't hard at all, so there aren't any real tips. We ended up using a nice, square-ish serving dish thing that I put on a baking pan to help me carry it in and out of that burning-hot oven.
- Everyone liked how it tasted a lot - when I told my mom what was on the menu for tonight, she centered in on only one word (PIE) after she told me she had no idea what it was. I live in a family full of health-conscious people and to them (especially my mom - my dad's happy he's getting fed, though he did ask where the rice was until we pointed out that the purple stuff on top made up the carbohydrates of this meal), pie equates to a sweet, fattening dessert. After I explained the concept, she was rather helpful, haha. Anyway, the purple mashed potato mixture on top got a little more dense, as is expected - the flavor was great.. subtle but there. The vegetables were pretty good and hearty with the soy "meat" bits in there and the texture was perfect; the carrots weren't mushy and definitely had a bite to them. I also love tomatoes so I think I got happy and threw in 3 tablespoons of tomato paste in there. :)
- The verdict: this was a favorite! Even after my dad's skepticism (although he commented that it smelled good while it was baking), he gave his stamp of approval as well. Shepherd's Pie will definitely be featured once more in my house! Next time, however, I'm planning on making it more traditional with no more colored potatoes (though I'm itching to try it out with sweet potatoes) and eggplant, haha.
- I'd also like to note how amused I am at the two recipes I based this one off of. They both make the same amount of servings (4 entree-sized servings) but the one written by an American doubles the ingredients, haha.
The finished product. Yes, I know it looks like a mound of mottled purple stuff.
BUT it doesn't taste like surprise!mottled purple stuff and that's what counts!
And here's a cross-section of it - see, there's good wholesome stuff under there! :) For my family, it might serve around 6..